But choosing the songs that made the Hammond a legend was no stroll down memory lane, either, added Richard Lay, who with Brush and Dan “Swivel” Sliwinski will perform on three of the vintage instruments at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 18, at the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library, 1710 St. Andrews.

General admission tickets cost $12 and are available at the door and by calling Fulkerson at 989-631-0724 or at Fulkerson Teaching Studio, 222 E. Main in Midland.

It was a double-edged sword, first trying to decide whether it was really the Hammond B-3 they heard in Iron Butterfly’s “In A Gadda Da Vida” and then deciding if there was room for Booker T, Deep Purple and Joey DeFrancesco.

“One of our biggest debates was figuring out what they were really playing by watching videos and listening to CDs,” said Richard Lay, who hosts “The Session” at noon Tuesday on WUCX-FM, 90.1.

But most common is the Hammond B-3, the one you’ll hear in everything from the Allman Brothers to Santana. Even Eric Clapton hooked his guitar up to the Hammond’s Leslie speaker, a stationary speaker topped with a pair of swiveling horns, to get that signature sound in “Badge,” said Fulkerson, who came up with the idea of the Midland concert about three years ago.

A self-described wanna-be piano player who’s made a name for himself on the drums, Fulkerson leads the band that will back the three organists through three sets showcasing each, bridged with three-organ collaborations.

Also performing are Bryan Rombalski on guitar, Ryan Fitzgerald on bass, Jeff Hall on sax and Eddy Garcia on percussion.

“About three months ago, we decided to just do it,” Fulkerson said.

And the funny thing is that even with the same Hammond B-3, Brush said, each organist brought a new sound out of it.

“Richard has a background in the church, with a gospel influence, and with Swivel’s history with the Hammond B-3, he could probably take it apart and put it back together again,” he said. “Each of us are doing four songs and then coming together for the rest.

“Back in the ‘60s, when I was in The Paupers, I played the Vox organ but about 10 years ago, I knew I needed the Hammond B-3. That was the iconic instrument of the age.”

Fulkerson says it is the thousands of songs that use the signature organ that explain the variations in sound.

“They come from all different sets of music,” he said. “And it comes with this draw box that each organist uses to set their own tone. It does create a totally different sound.

“They’re coming up with synthesizers that come close to reproducing the sound but there’s still nothing like hearing the real thing.”